Gust, the global investor relations platform connecting high-growth entrepreneurs and active early-stage investors, and NorBAN, the National Business Angels association of Norway, have entered into a long-term strategic partnership establishing Gust as the official deal-flow management and investor relations platform for the financing of high-growth Norwegians startups.
NorBAN is a non-profit association representing business angels and early stage investors in Norway. The organizations' key objectives are to improve the possibilities for individuals to invest in unlisted growth companies, and advocate for increasingly favourable conditions for early stage investments. NorBAN members represent angel groups across all regions of Norway, from Stavanger to Tromsø.
"NorBAN believes Gust will prove to be a major improvement and effectively reduce many of the hurdles of being an early phase investor", said Truls Berg, from NorBAN. "More Norwegians should get interested in the activity of angel investing, which is great for our country's innovation and for the thousands of entrepreneurs that are willing to undertake this risk."
Gust, named the world's Top Innovator in Financial Technology at this year's Sibos conference organized by SWIFT, operates the global platform for sourcing and managing early-stage investments. It powers over 1,000 investment organizations in 75 countries and facilitates collaboration among more than 180,000 startups and 40,000 accredited investors. Gust is the official platform of the world's leading national angel investor federations, including those in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, EBAN, BAE, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, France, Portugal, Turkey and Russia, among others.
"Gust is proud to enter into this partnership with NorBAN and to serve as the network's official platform", said David S. Rose, CEO of Gust. "NorBAN is committed to the development of Norway's early-stage investment community, and we are delighted to work with its leadership and provide the necessary infrastructure to support Norway's entrepreneurs and early stage investors."
Gust proprietary data shows that early-stage investments in Europe are on the rise, with EBAN member countries growing rapidly throughout the second half of 2012.